Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) (104 page)

“I
guess
she
does
have
an
obligation…”

Aggie
passed
the
cup
of
piping
hot
coffee
to
William
and
turned
to
make
her
self
a
cup.
“I
love
this
thing.
Luke
couldn’
t
have
bought
me
a
more
perfect
gift.”

“Does
she
have
any
idea
when
she’ll
be
back?”

“Hey,
why
don’t
you
ask
her
that?
Don’t
you
think
she’d
like
to
hear
that
you
miss
her?”

“I
never
said—”

“Oh,
come
on,
William.
You
come
in,
ask
about
my
trip,
want
to
know
about
her
dad,
when
she’ll
be
back…
you
miss
her.
That’s
a
good
thing.”

“
I
think
miss
might
be
strong,
but
I
did
hope
she
might
be
home
soon.”

“Um,
dear
William.
She
is
home.
Yorktown
is
her
home.
She
was
just
here
because
she
wanted
to
help
me.”

“Well,
I
think
she
considers
here
home.
She
had
mentioned
getting
an
apartment
when
you
and
Luke
got
married.”

Aggie
knew
that
Tina
had
looked
at
a
few
places,
but
she
had
no
idea
that
her
friend
had
shared
this
information.
“I
think
you
need
to
make
a
trip
up
there.
Say
hi.
Take
her
out
to
dinner.”

“Seems
a
bit…
serious.”

“Well,
then
don’t.
Let
her
wonder
if
she
should
bother
coming
back
at
all.
Let
her
father
introduce
her
to
interns
and
every
other
unmarried
man
under
forty
in
his
company
until
one
of
them
shows
her
the
attention
she
deserves.”

“I’ll
think
about
it,
but…”

“Or,”
Aggie
added
with
playfulness
she
hadn’t
felt
in
ages,
“Or
you
could
go
over
and
make
up
to
Murphy
instead.
She
wouldn’t
mind.”

William
glanced
at
his
watch
and
set
his
cup
on
the
counter.
“I’ve
got
to
get
going.
Megan
was
supposed
to
be
working,
but
she’s
got
that
flu
going
around.
”

“And
it’s
a
convenient
excuse
to
get
away
before
I
convince
you
that
Tina’s
worth
a
trip
north.”

“Oh,
I
know
she’s
worth
it,
but…”

“G’night,
William.
Go
work
out
your
troubles.
I
think
I
hear
kids
out
of
bed.”

~*~*~*~

Laird
overheard
Aggie
talking
in
the
living
room
and
crept
down
the
first
few
stairs
to
see
if
he
could
see
who
else
was
there,
but
she
was
obviously
talking
on
her
cell
to
someone—probably
Luke.
The
first
clear
words
he
heard
were,
“…considering
enrolling
them.”

Her
next
words
,
emphasizing
that
he
and
Vannie
would
certainly
go
,
unnerved
him
.
I’
ve
got
to
talk
to
the
others,
he
thought.
We
might
not
like
having
to
do
school
all
day
here,
but
it’s
better
than
when
we
had
to
be
gone
all
day
with
homework
when
we
got
home
,
and
it
wasn’
t
too
bad
before
Christmas.
His
feet
hurried
up
the
stairs,
and
at
the
top,
he
heard
a
car
in
the
drive.
He
passed
Vannie’s
room
and
went
straight
for
the
window
at
the
end
of
the
hall.
The
sheriff’s
car.
What
could
that
mean?